Charikot - April 27th

Sorry it's been awhile since anything's been posted. Electricity in Nepal is not exactly a 24/7 thing. Most days you're lucky if you get 8 hours of electricity. I think we're working on a world record at the moment since we've had electricity since last night (at least I think so, we're not here during the day).
As of the last posting we had just arrived in Charikot and had our introduction to Surya, the headmaster of a new private school here in Charikot. Our first week of teaching was actually focused on teaching the teachers since the kids were not officially back to school. Plus, because of one of Nepal's famous road strikes, books had not arrived from Kathmandu. But Surya sees a lot of value in having us spend time with the teachers because they will be here long after we are gone. Most of them speak very little English themselves and are teaching the young children. And they haven't actually received training from a native English speaker. Instead they have been taught by Nepalis who learned English and many mistakes just get handed from teacher to student. For example, we are told by one English teacher that they were taught to pronounce a "p" as an "f".
I also love the fact that Surya has invited teachers from other schools in the district to participate. We have two gentlemen who join us for two days. They were taught to speak English phonetically so Colleen and I find ourselves having to "wing" a curriculum to teach English phonetically. It's actually not that hard (for us) because it really consists of teaching sounds and then going through some example words. However, they really struggle with some of the sounds, just as I have found it difficult to learn Nepali because there are some sounds we use that they don't and vice versa. But it's very rewarding when these teachers tell you how much they have learned just by speaking to native English speakers.
We also learn that we have really helped Surya's reputation in the community. This is the first week that his school is open and he tells us that he already had several new enrollments from families that heard he has American's volunteering at his school. Apparently this shows the community that Surya is "connected" so must be providing a great education for their children. I love that just our presence is an asset to this man who is so committed to bringing quality education to the more remote villages of Nepal.
Friday was a holiday here in Nepal. It is the first anniversary of democracy so school is closed. Colleen and I just enjoy the beautiful mountain views and some R&R here at the hotel.
On Saturday we are invited to Surya's home for the mother's day celebration. There is a small ceremony at Surya's mother-in-law's home first which consists of her two daughters and one son blessing her and presenting her with gifts. Surya's niece then performs the same ceremony for Surya's sister-in-law and wife. Then the fun begins because now we are presented with the same traditional Nepali food that the mother-in-law received. First it's an egg that has been hard-boiled and then fried and then touched by pretty much everyone in the room :). Colleen and I are presented our eggs on a plate with a spoon which is really cute because everyone else uses their hands. We also try a little buffalo meat (which is quite tasty!). Then we are presented with curdled milk and a traditional Nepali wine which can best be described as grain alcohol on steroids. We give it the ol' college try but try as we might we just can't down a glass of curdled milk with a grain alcohol chaser!! We'd make bad Nepalis!
Yesterday was our first day with the children. We attempt to teach nursery rhymes and songs to the nursery school kids but are met with a bunch of blank stares. No surprise there since we are singing in a language they've never heard and I don't care how many farm animal sounds you make, they just don't get it! We finally find success with the Class 3 (third-grade) kids who actually know quite a bit of English although they are very shy to speak. However, I find that by asking them to help me learn Nepali, they open right up. At first it's just a few words but by the end of class they are looking through books in English to find words that they can translate into Nepali.
Today can best be described by me as my idea of a perfect day. I get to school and immediately my friends from Class 3 want to help me to learn more Nepali. Then I go downstairs to teach songs but this time to Kindergarten thru Class 3 (these ages at least are able to mimic what I say). I teach them "If You're Happy and You Know It" first and they do a really good job of singing along plus they love the clapping and feet stomping. The show stopper was definitely the "Hokey Pokey" though. I had them all on their feet, "shaking it all about" and they just loved it! There is absolutely nothing better than the sound of children's laughter and, for me, the ability to connect to these children who don't understand me and who I don't understand but we still had so much fun together. However, let me tell you, doing the Hokey Pokey 10 times in a row is tiring!!!! I'm out of breath and these kids want to keep going! I then go upstairs where Surya has the nursery age kids (about age 3) in his office dancing to Nepali music. It is one of the cutest things I've ever seen and, of course, today I don't have my camera!!!! But they made me smile so much my face hurt!!! After lunch I spent time with Class 3 again but then Surya called me in and introduced me to my new student who will start tomorrow. She is 62 years old and started in school for the first time 3 years ago. She has advanced to Level 5 but in a government school so has not had the chance to learn English. She is now running for Parliament (isn't democracy great?) and wants to learn English. She has seen Colleen and me in town and we've even greeted her but now she wants to greet us in English. So she starts tomorrow and that just made my day!!!!
Sorry this is so long folks. Had a lot to fill you in on and haven't even covered everything but I'm tired of typing and I'm sure you're tired of reading so more later!!!!!